Sentences handed down in Boise City Murder

Steven Rains - August 9, 2019 10:41 am

CIMARRON COUNTY, OKLA. – Two of three defendants arrested for the murder of 77-year-old Charles Nieman have been sentenced. Zachary Wilson (29) and Jeremy Scott (33) entered pleas of no contest to Murder in the First Degree in Cimarron County District Court. Wilson was sentenced to life in prison with all but 25 years suspended. Scott also received a life sentence with all but 35 years suspended. A third defendant, Timothy Dees (29), currently has a court date scheduled for September.

“It is a relief. Like a weight is off your shoulders,” said Debbie Nieman Stroud, Charles Nieman’s daughter. “There is no closure, but with justice there can be resolution. They may have taken our father, grandfather and great-grandfather from us, but they can never take away our memories or our laughter.”

Wilson, Scott and Dees were arrested in February for the murder of Nieman. Nieman and his wife were traveling through Boise City on June 12, 2013 when they stopped at the Loaf ‘N Jug convenience store. The couple was approached by a man who pointed a gun at Mr. Nieman demanding his wallet. The man shot Nieman and then fled on foot. The vehicle the shooter came from drove away at the same time. Mr. Nieman died as a result of the shooting; Mrs. Nieman was uninjured.

The investigation has been ongoing since 2013 with few leads until December 2018 when the OSBI’s newly formed Cold Case Unit began reviewing the case. Agents requested a shell casing be re-tested and entered into the Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS). The casing was originally entered into IBIS in 2014 but returned no hits. When it was re-entered in 2018, there was a hit from a case out of Colorado. This lead led agents to several states and ultimately resulted in the arrests of the three suspects.

“Cases may go cold, but they are never forgotten,” said Brook Arbeitman, OSBI Public Information Officer. “Our Cold Case Unit is devoted to working on those cases where leads either don’t exist or they have been followed and didn’t lead to a suspect. The Cold Case Unit is persistent and diligent in searching for the truth as demonstrated in Mr. Nieman’s case. Agents took a chance at re-testing a shell casing and it resulted in justice for Mr. Nieman’s family.”

The OSBI would like to thank the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office (Alabama), Mobile Police Department (Alabama), Adams County Sheriff’s Office (Colorado), Denver Police Department (Colorado), the FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force Fugitive Unit, U.S. Probation and Parole Office and the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force who assisted throughout the investigation.